Indirect impacts of pesticides on the production of wild gamebirds in Britain.

Abstract

We describe a management technique whereby the adverse effects of pesticides on gamebird chick production were alleviated following the selective use or selective avoidance of pesticides on the edges of cereal crops. This technique (known as conservation headlands) provided increased amounts of the food resources necessary for young grey partridge (Perdix perdix) and ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) chicks. The use of conservation headlands has consistently increased average number of chicks per brood of both species via increases in the densities of arthropods and weed plants. These findings are discussed in the context of the other pre-requisites of wild gamebird production in Britain and how these may be altered by recent U.K. Government policies to reduce cereal surpluses.